The Market Revolution: Jacksonian America, 1815-1846 / Edition 1

by Charles Sellers

Overview

The central theme of this study of American life in the early 19th century is the establishment of capitalism. The author argues that, following the Industrial Revolution, two distinct societies were created in the USA: rich and poor, proprietors and labourers, city dwellers and farmers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195089202
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/19/1994
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	512
Sales rank:	243,486
Product dimensions:	9.18(w) x 6.10(h) x 1.34(d)
Lexile:	1540L (what's this?)

About the Author

Charles Sellers is Professor of History Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. His two-volume biography of President James Polk won a Bancroft Prize in 1967.

Editorial Reviews

In this major work, noted Jacksonian historian Sellers details the impact of capitalism on all aspects of U.S. development in the early 19th century. While some may denigrate his analysis as overly Marxist, its conclusions are logical and supportable. In particular the impact of the market on national character, which Sellers sees as an ongoing conflict of arminian and antimonian philosophies, may lead historians to reinterpretations of events and policies since the Jacksonian era. Sellers's scholarship is vast, but a reliance on secondary sources in social and cultural areas is disappointing. Nevertheless, his bibliographic essay is a goldmine of sources for those researching the period. Specialists may find the content of this work compelling, but the author's arid, sometimes pedantic style will limit its appeal. Recommended for academic libraries.-- Rose Cichy, Osterhout Lib., Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

Library Journal

"The reference work every scholar of antebellum America needs."—Gail S. Murray, Rhodes College

"The book makes the reader ponder the role of capitalism in a democratic society, providing new ways of looking at a much-interpreted era."—History: Review of New Books

"A powerfully argued grand synthesis of a key period in American history, this book will teach and provoke as have few works in the last decade. For no other period of American history can one find such a sweeping, coherent account, which creatively interprets the scholarship of the last thiry years. Sellers fuses scholarship with moral purpose in ways that force us to rethink the relationship between capitalism and democracy."—Paul Goodman, University of California, Davis

"A brilliant achievement. Combining vast scholarship with vivid, trenchant prose, Charles Sellers has produced a sweeping new interpretation of the economy, culture, and politics of antebellum America. Sellers' vision restores drama and historical coherence to the decades which witnessed a massive transformation of American life and a fundamental definition of our dominant national culture. The Market Revolution should fascinate general readers as it will compel the attention of professional historians."—Harry L. Watson, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

"The book makes the reader ponder the role of capitalism in a democratic society, providing new ways of looking at a much-interpreted era."—History: Review of New Books

From the Publisher